I have advised both of my children to stand out in their college essays. This is the one chance you get on a college application to say something that isn't a directed response. You can use the opportunity for anything, from an examination of tight-rope walking to the history of pasta making as a metaphor for your life. the more unique your essay topic, the more your essay (and application) stands out to the schools you're applying to. You don't want to just blend in with the crowd. You can greatly increase your chances of getting in if you write about something unique, engaging, and relevant.

The essay is more often than not a way for the college to get to know you without actually meeting you. Sure, it's a way to measure your writing skill and you should treat it that way, but also schools value the opportunity to learn something about your values, beliefs, or interests through your essay. they can tell whether your a open-minded exploratory intellect or a rigid, regiment-following future scientist. this can influence their decision about admission because they are generally also concerned about creating a community with the students they admit. not just an intellectual body.

Don't feed them something boring and basic about your life story and why you want to go to college. Everyone writes these kind of essays and schools get bored by them after reading thousands and thousands every year. Write something that no one has done before to show your ability to differentiate yourself from a crowd and accel on your own.

not every school wants to see a unique or creative essay. Sometimes they just want to see if you can write and create a logical train of though or argument. Just make sure you know what your school wants.

my essay for harvard was about the circus, and how when i was a kid the circus seemed to me like what i wanted life to be like when i was grown up. This gave me an interesting way to present myself in an essay and show how i perceive and relate to the world.

You can usually write about anything in the application essay. I guess some schools request that you write something specifically about yourself, but you can bend that question and use any one thing to write about yourself. You can write about yourself even through the lens of a single activity that says something about you or your likes/dislikes.